How to break blue crystal barriers in Pragmata

Almost immediately after entering Sector 1's Solar Power Plants in Pragmata, you'll stumble across a doorway blocked with blue crystals and rock. You can peek into the room, but you can't get past these barriers. Once you reach Sector 2, the Mass Production Array (the area that looks like New York), you'll find even more of these crystals blocking your path.

Annoyingly, you won't be able to break these blue rock walls right away. In fact, there are even red crystal barricades later on, which you'll break through using a completely different method. Below, I'll explain what you need to do to access these areas, and jog your memory of some of the locations you might want to backtrack to.

How to break blue crystal barriers in Pragmata

The blue crystal barriers are actually called "filament masses," and you'll need to progress through the story a short bit until you unlock the ability to break them. More specifically, you need the Lim Eraser power unlocked at the bottom of the Lim Recycling Facility near the end of Sector 2: Mass Production Array.

So, complete Sector 1: Solar Power Plants and beat the Sector Guard boss, then enter Sector 2: Mass Production Array and reach the main hub area, which looks like New York City, where you need to lower the door to reach the Comms Tower. Continue with the main objective until you've hacked four of the five beacons.

Once you've hacked the penultimate beacon on the rooftop in the Business District:

1. Head through the building, past the Escape Hatch and up the ladder
2. Drop off the ledge ahead of you and climb up the boxes on your right to a bridge (it's not the one from earlier, which will be to your left)
3. Cross the bridge and go into the lab, which you'll later find out is called the Lim Recycling Facility
4. Activate the recycler using the computer to clear a path deeper into the building
5. Clear the combat encounter past the Decoy Generator weapon pick-up, and continue through the facility until you reach the Read Earth Memory
6. Dodge the lasers and drop down to the lower levels, and enter the lab at the end of the ramp

Interacting with the terminal in the lab, Diana will pick up the data chip containing the Lim Eraser power and…bite it. That's just how she absorbs data, I guess. After that, you'll unlock the power, which you'll need to use to break the rocks outside the lab and return to the streets.

Go back for these blue crystals:

Given that you unlock the Lim Eraser in the second zone, you'll have been forced to walk past a few crystals in the first area. I recommend you return to Sector 1 to collect the rewards you missed:

As mentioned, there are a lot more of these obstacles in Sector 2, near where you get the power, such as the shops on the main street and various areas (including shortcuts) back in the Business District.

How to break red crystal barriers in Pragmata

In Sector 3: Terra Dome, and even more so in Sector 4: Lunum Mines, you'll start encountering red crystal walls. Though they look exactly like the blue ones but red, these are called "dead filament," and it's a completely different process to get past them.

I'll avoid spoilers, but you unlock the Cleanse ability in Sector 5: Experimental Pragmatics, which is a very short chapter you're forced into after beating the Luna Digger at the end of the Lunum Mines level.

By holding E (or left bumper on controller), you can charge a blast that will shatter these red crystals. It's also a somewhat useful tool in combat because it can be used to cleanse corrupted enemies.

Go back for these red crystals:

As was the case with the Lim Eraser, you'll have been forced to ignore a number of red crystal barriers before you eventually unlock the tool to destroy them: